Indiana to work on inside play in matchup with Chattanooga

Indiana coach Mike Woodson wants his team to play like the Hoosiers teams he played for under Bob Knight, while working the ball inside and playing tough man-to-man defense.

Those methods likely will be emphasized during Indiana's nonconference home game Saturday against Chattanooga in Bloomington.

Indiana (8-3) is coming off an 85-68 Big Ten defeat at Nebraska on Dec. 13. The Hoosiers took 35 shots from 3-point range -- the most in a game during Woodson's four seasons at the helm -- and made only eight. In turn, the Cornhuskers converted a whopping 61.2 percent from the field.

"We have to be better defensively," Woodson said. "We work on defense. I know defense wins, especially when you're not making shots. You have to establish yourself from a defensive standpoint. We have to get that fixed."

The game plan against the Mocs (8-4) seems simple. They are excellent on 2-point shots and free throws but make only 31.3 percent of their 3-pointers, which is 278th in Division I. Inside play will be at a premium with the Hoosiers are built around post players, although that didn't help at Nebraska.

Chattanooga is coming off a 99-52 rout of NAIA opponent Tennessee Wesleyan on Wednesday night. It was the eighth win in nine games for the Mocs, which got six 3-pointers and 20 points from Honor Huff.

"I thought it was a pretty good showing from us," said Chattanooga coach Dan Earl. "I thought we really shared the ball well with 25 assists. We made some shots and did some pretty good things."

The Mocs' recent string of success has been built largely on a softer stretch of schedule. They have two non-Division I wins and no victory over an opponent ranked better than 184 on the kenpom.com metric.

Indiana has won all three meetings in the teams' series, including a 99-74 decision on March 17, 2016, in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

--Field Level Media